this afternoon president obama held talks with congressional leaders at the white house. the president says he is hopeful a deal can be reached in order to avoid automatic tax increases and spending cuts come january 1st. senator harry reid and mitch mcconnell are trying to hammer out a deal the house might approve, but the house is ticking. joining us now are our political strategists. brendan, the president today said is he going to have senator mcconnell, senator reid start off on this package, but doesn't that eliminate a big player in this, which is john boehner, if this has to get passed through the house? >> certainly and he's been talking with the speaker all along. i think he's basically saying the house is really at an impasse. i don't think they can pass it on their own, but if there's a bipartisan deal that senate republicans and senate democrats can pass, the speaker's office indicated they may bring it up in the house even if they only get 1/3 or 1/2 of the republicans, if there are enough democrats, it can pass in the house. that's really been the problem.